2-3-16 PARRC School District Results Released...State Revenue on an Uptick

NJ SPOTLIGHT - STATE GOES PUBLIC WITH RESULTS OF FIRST-YEAR PARCC EXAM SCORES…As expected, the numbers show widespread falling off from earlier state tests; opt-out numbers are inconclusive ‘ “Now that we’re entering the second year of PARCC testing, educators and parents are seeing the benefits of PARCC. They see it’s the most effective assessment tool the state has ever had, and they see how it can help improve teaching and learning in ways that our old tests never could. And that’s precisely where the focus should be: Improving the education we provide to children.”

‘Most New Jersey public school students failed the embattled new state standardized test, achieving scores so low in some cases that district officials fear the results give an unrealistic picture of academic achievement on an exam that thousands of students boycotted.Yet many other North Jersey school administrators on Tuesday urged patience, assuring that as more students are tested, performance will swiftly improve. One top official even said he expected the test scores, after a tumultuous 2015 rollout, to be much worse…Ridgewood performed well above the state average, despite a large number of refusals at the high school level. In all, 77 percent of students in Grades 3 to 8 passed their tests, as did 70 percent of high school students…But the numbers aren’t reliable, said Superintendent Daniel Fishbein. “The only accurate reflection would be if we had a much higher percentage of students participating,” he said…As in previous years, African-American and Hispanic students lagged behind the overall population. Meanwhile, Asian students outperformed all other groups by wide margins…’

NJ SPOTLIGHT - SLIGHT HIKE IN TAX REVENUE ADDS UP TO PROJECTED SURPLUS FOR STATE COFFERS…But slight budget cushion forecast for first six months of fiscal year may not be enough to justify dropping state’s estate tax